


Haunted

by chaosfay



Series: Delylah and Cullen [19]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Night Terrors, Nightmares, Sleep, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 20:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3583470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosfay/pseuds/chaosfay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adamant and the Nightmare demon has left Delylah with little sleep.  Cullen does his best to comfort her on their return to Skyhold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Haunted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PierceTheFade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PierceTheFade/gifts).



Delylah had only just returned from Adamant, and though she appeared to have handled things well he had a feeling that wasn’t the case.  For everyone else she was steady, calm, but also enraged.  He hadn’t seen her like that before, and doubted anyone had.  Hawke had been left behind to make sure they could escape, and she had accepted the Grey Wardens as allies.  It made nearly everyone angry with her; the decision didn’t seem rational, but he saw the wisdom in it.  

The frustration of dealing with everyone telling her how she _should_ have done things angered to even further.  She had been physically in the Fade for the second time, had fought demons others couldn’t even begin to imagine, prevented things from getting worse, taken more into her armor boosting their numbers, and few had anything kind to say to her.  Were she anyone else she may have collapsed under the pressure.  

They were only halfway to Skyhold now, the trip taking longer than anyone would have liked.  Their were wounds to heal, people that required aid to make the journey, and the weight and number of supplies.  Delylah didn’t dare push anyone to move faster; she herself was exhausted.

They had only just set up camp for the evening, tents covering a large portion of the field they found.  Thankfully he had trained his soldiers well.  Everything was organized, tents in rows, a perimeter set up, and scouts constantly on the lookout for trouble.  Delylah’s tent was set apart from the others, or at least a far as she could.  She said she only wanted some peace and quiet, away from the ruckus.  He couldn’t blame her seeing as he felt much the same.  His headaches were made worse, and more frequent, with the noise.

Delylah ate little, looking more exhausted every day of their traveling.  Most likely didn’t notice, or blamed it on the long haul back to Skyhold.  She didn’t complain, but more than once he found her sleeping while riding.  Her frequent traveling had left her capable of sleeping while on her mount, but seeing it this often, during the day, left him concerned.  He recognized the signs, but didn’t want to believe them.  She was getting very little sleep at night.

He set up is own tent next to her own tonight, instead of within the camp.  If it was as he suspected he wanted to be nearby to comfort her.

All was quiet, and he woke with a start, a scream piercing his dreams.  He thought it was from the nightmares he usually had until he heard it again.  Bolting out of his tent he made his way quickly to Delylah’s.  No one else seemed to notice, or had simply ignored her.  Enter the tent he heard her scream again, tossing and turning on her bedroll.  Careful as he could he approached her.  There was no telling how she’d react to someone touching her while in this state.

“Delylah, Delylah, wake up.”  He touched her gently on her shoulder.  She woke immediately, and just as he suspected she had magic ready.  Her hand instantly light with electricity, lighting the tent enough she could see him.  Her face was dripping with sweat, and what he could see of her shirt it, too, was soaked.  The tent smelled of fear.  

“How do I know?  Are you demon come to haunt me?  This could be another dream!”  The light grew brighter, her face and voice nothing but rage. 

“No, it’s just me.  It’s Cullen.  You were having a nightmare.”  He didn’t life his hand from her shoulder, and kept his voice still.  “You’re safe.  We’re on our way to Skyhold.  I’m here, we’re in camp.  Your screaming woke me up.”  He could feel her shaking violently under his touch.

“Prove it!  Prove you’re him and not a desire demon!”  

“You froze my fingers when I touched your hair, and I haven’t touched it since.”  He kept his voice steady and quiet.  “When you beat me at chess you make me eat some spicy dish that makes it difficult for me to breathe.”

The lighting faded away, and immediately Delylah had her arms around him, sobbing uncontrollably.  Cullen pulled her into his lap, holding her close.  She was cold to the touch, her clothes soaked completely through.  He rocked her back and forth, cradling her in his arms as she cried herself out.  Finally she spoke, her voice shaking as badly as her body.  “I can still hear him, the things he said.  I can see his lair, and he says-”

“Shhh, it’s all gone now.  The demon is dead.  You killed it and sealed the rift.  He can’t hurt you or anyone else.”  

“He’s a nightmare demon!  He can come back and feed on our fear!  Solas says spirits come back, that their energy remains in the Fade!  He could come back and use me!”

“It wasn’t a spirit; it was a demon.  You vanquished it, stripped it of its power.  You said it fed on fear, but you have conquered yours.  It’s okay.  I’m here.”

“It could come back.  It could come back.  It’ll come after me because of what I did to it.  It’ll try to take me, to make me do things, make its puppet!”

“You’re too strong, and you don’t have the taint.  Remember the demon army; the taint is what made the Warden mages puppets.  You’re not a Warden mage, but the Inquisitor, the Herald.  You will be no one’s puppet.”

You don’t know that.  It feeds on nightmares and fear, and it has a feast here.  It will come back and be stronger.  I will be hunted by it.”

“You won’t.  It won’t come back.  If anyone ought to be afraid, it’s the demon.  You destroyed any chance of there being a demon army.”  He could feel her relaxing now, “I’m here now.”

She gripped his shirt, her voice quiet and weak as she spoke, “please don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”  

“…so tired.”  Delylah’s grip went slack, her head resting on his chest.  “Need sleep…feel safe.”

He carefully moved her back to her bedroll as he rose from the ground.  As he went to pull the blanket back over her he found it was wet and cold.  With ease he gather her in his arms again and carried her to his own tent.  Settling her on the bedroll he pulled the blanket over them both.  “I’ll keep you safe.  Just sleep now.”

He woke in the morning to something ticking his face.  Opening his eyes Cullen saw Delylah looking at him, smiling softly.  “Good morning.”  Her hand brushed over the stubble on his face.  “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me.  I have nightmares too.”  Hearing the sounds of soldiers waking and preparing their morning meal.  “I think it’s time we got up.  We have a long day ahead of us.”  He threw the blanket off them, the morning chill waking them fully.

“Now that’s just rude.”

“But effective.“  He sat up and stretched before pulling on his boots.  “If you need me to help you falling asleep just ask.”  Realizing how that sounded his face suddenly became very hot, and red.  

“I think I can manage.”  She kissed his cheek before leaving his tent. 

**Author's Note:**

> A writing prompt from tumblr. This is written from personal experience with PTSD and night terrors, no romanticizing things here.


End file.
